Low data communication bandwidths exist for one or more reasons for many communications systems and the data to be transmitted can thus take inordinate periods of time to transmit because of the low data rate achievable on the channel. Even when communication channels of adequate bandwidth are available, the priority of the data may be such that it is not of adequate benefit to devote that available bandwidth to the task of communicating the data to where it may be of greatest value.
This highlights the importance of data reduction algorithms for the transmission of data generated by various electronic and information systems.